Crying
by The Awesome Person
Summary: Series of one shots that explores the topics that make us humans cry. Several pairings within.
1. Why Can't I

Arnold had been to one funeral his entire life.

It was for his grandfather. It was unexpected too. One day he decides to go to bed early and the a few hours later his grandmother found him in bed with a smile on his face and his eyes closed. No breath escaping or entering. It had crushed Arnold that day, seeing the man he loved, more than his very being, being buried in to the ground. He cried so much that day with the rest of his 'family' and days that followed. It had taken him a totally of two weeks to finally get over the loss of his grandfather. He never understood why people would be _that _devastated for losing someone. He knew _why_ just why so much- now he knew why. Now he knew why people changed and you see the side you never thought you would ever see.

That was Arnold's thought process for years. He always figured he was correct to think such tings until that very day. It was his second funeral, but it wasn't for anyone in his 'family'. Instead it was the death of a Pataki family member. It was Bob Pataki that finally kicked the bucket. Doctors claimed it was a heart attack from all the horrid food he would let his body digest, but Olga and Miriam claimed it was all the stress from work. Helga; however, would shrug and claim she didn't know anything.

When word of Bob Pataki's death reached everyone's ears, people had one thought in mind. How would Helga take this news? The following day at school everyone's eyes were glued to the school's entrance to see her walk in. To see if she had red puffy eyes or if her anger towards everyone grew ten folds. Arnold found it amusing how people their age would act to childish- eighteen and still doing silly actions. People were beginning to get bored of waiting for her, but suddenly the doors opened and there Helga eyes. However, there were no red eyes and there was no heavy scowl on her face. Simply a heavy frown and a blank look on her eyes. Phoebe stood by her side with a cautious look on her face. Everyone thought that the death of her father really did take a toll on her, but as soon as a boy walked up to her to say his sorry he lost his two front teeth.

Helga got suspended, the boy was sent to the dentist, and everyone thought she was a heartless woman who didn't care about her father's death. Arnold wasn't quite sure what to think about the situation.

Gerald and Arnold decided to the park that day to speak about what had happened. They had developed a tendency of walking together at the park when something big happened in their small town. The death of Bob was definitely _huge_. As they reached the bridge that overlooked the small river they had noted another being got their before they could. Once they were close enough, they could make out who it was- Helga. The best friends weren't sure if approaching her would be the smartest idea, but they figured since they knew her more she wouldn't knock their front teeth in. Gerald was the brave soul to go first: "Hey G." he whispered.

Gerald had grown accustomed to calling her 'G' due to her middle name. It was surprising when she claimed she wouldn't mind him calling her that- everyone figured she was having a really good day. Helga looked over at him with her newly acquired dull face and looked back at the river. "We're uh… We're sorry about your dad." Arnold's best friend said awkwardly. The blonde looked at Gerald, who flinched- scared she would hit him, and looked back at the river.

"What are you talking about?"

It was then that Arnold realized why Helga was acting the way she was. She was in complete and utter denial. Her mentality would not allow her to compute the fact that her father had just passed away. Arnold's heart suddenly swelled in pain at the realization.

Then came the funeral. Many were crying, others were comforting, and few just stood there with frowns on their faces. Miriam and Olga's tears were flowing like endless rivers. Whenever his name came up they would cry even harder and the grip Olga had on Helga's shoulder would get tighter- causing her to flinch. Arnold had kept his eyes mostly on Helga throughout the entire funeral- not once did she shed a single tear. Even if a dull look was caressing her face, it didn't show how sad she truly sad. He didn't understand why, but that bothered him so much. It was probably because she actually had a father and there he goes dying and there _she _goes not shedding a tear for him. He knew he wasn't father of the year, but at least he was there.

Something he had wanted for such a long time.

Moments passed and priest stopped speaking. Four men began to lower the coffin inside the square hole on the ground. Arnold didn't bother looking, but kept his eyes glued on Helga. He was rather glad he had done so- once the body began to lower he saw something he never thought he would see- Helga flinched. It wasn't because of Olga's tight grip or because something hit her, it was because reality finally hit her.

Reality finally slapped her in the face and screamed: 'Your father's dead.'

Once the body was six deep under, everyone prayed once more, said sorry to the remaining Pataki's, and left. Arnold chose to linger around the scene for a few more moments- at least until Helga was left alone. Miriam and Olga urged Helga to go with them back to the church to do who knew what, but she shook her head and said what he guessed was 'I'll wait for you here.' Unsure at first, they nodded and left- tears still streaming down their eyes.

Arnold slowly, but surely moved in to the scene and stood next to Helga. They acknowledged each other's presence, but the silence was too thick to be easily broken. His mind was rushing with so many things to say, to comfort her, but every time his mouth would open to say something, the only thing that came out was a heavy sigh with words that died in his throat.

"Sorry."

The blonde teen's eyebrows shot up as he looked down at Helga. Her father died and she was the one apologizing.

"What? No, I should be the one apologizing." He stammered quickly as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

Helga looked up at him with her right eyebrow raised. Her shoulders then lifted slightly as if the situation didn't really matter to her.

Silence filled the two once more.

"When I was nine I went to my first funeral- it was for my great grandmother. I never knew her, but I still cried that day. I guess it was the fact that I knew someone I could have met left my life forever." Helga's sudden statement made Arnold jump slightly in shock. As to why she spouted such information was beyond his comprehension, but he chose to stay quiet. "So why…" the blonde kept going. "… Why can't I cry now?"

Arnold looked back down at Helga. His eyes were somewhat wide, shocked at her confession and confusion. She had the expression of a helpless child who had fallen and didn't know what to do- her dull expression had washed away. His first instinct was to comfort her, but a loud beep suddenly filled their ears. The two eighteen year olds looked behind them to find Arnold's grandmother waving at him to get over there.

"I- I have to go." He gave her a pathetic look, one that was filled with sadness and worry for her. With much hesitation, he turned around and headed towards his grandmother's car. Once in the passenger seat, he looked out the window to find Helga waving slightly good bye at him. She didn't have a smile on her face, but once again harbored the dull expression caressing her face once more. Arnold frowned heavily and kept his eyes glued on Helga as the car drove off.

--x O x—

Arnold had reached the boarding house hours earlier, but his mind still raced with the events that had happened. He knew it was silly to keep thinking about Helga's sudden confession, but it was the fact that she was able to tell him that. Knowing Helga, for her to say anything that involved her showing any sort of emotion that wasn't anger was a miracle of sorts.

He grunted in anguish as he wished to see her again.

When his grandfather had passed away, many were there to comfort him- even Helga. In her awkward, rough way of showing it, he was able to tell that she was truly sorry for his loss. And there he was not long ago trying to do the same for her, but had to suddenly leave.

Arnold's mind was finally set after moments of inner struggle. He would go to her house and tell Helga that he was there for her- as weird and random as it was. They were friends and friends always stuck to each other through the bad and good of times. Picking up his jacket, he threw it on and flew down the stairs. His hand made contact with the door knob and threw the door open.

However, he could not fly out said door. Standing in front of him was Olga, Helga's older sister. Her tears were still flowing and she had tissues popping out of her purse. The car behind her had her mother in there with tears flowing down as well- she was looking at him with pleading eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked curiously.

"It's Helga." Was all she managed to say before tears began to shed once more and Arnold ran off to find her.

--x O x—

All Olga was able to tell him was that Helga had stayed behind at their father's grave and when they came back she disappeared. Arnold didn't know what conclusion to come up with since he had been with her at the time of her sister and mother's departure until he had left. So common sense says that between the time after he left and the other's got back- she suddenly disappeared.

Arnold thought of a million places he could check to see where Helga could be at: the park, the school grounds, wandering aimlessly through the streets, and so many others. However, his legs took him straight to the graveyard. The place was massive and Helga wasn't incredibly skilled at hiding from people, even if she didn't want to. His eyes scanned desperately for her, but he couldn't find her.

In a desperate manner he began to run through the aisles of dead people that lay underground. He would mutter quickly a sorry to the dead people he would step on ever once or twice. Be it necessary or not, he was too busy searching for a live person.

At the corner of his eye he spotted someone sitting on the ground hugging their knees. The position they were in didn't let him make out who exactly it was, so he proceeded with caution. Once lose enough, he could make out the fragile body that could inflict so much pain on someone and the lose, long blonde hair that was engraved on to his mind. He stood next to Helga for a few moments like before, both acknowledging each other's presence.

"I'm not leaving." She stated bluntly.

"I didn't say you had to." He replied as he breathed deeply and rapidly to catch his breath. Once he caught his breath, his legs decided to make him sit on the ground next to Helga. He didn't oppose his legs on doing such a thing for all the running made his legs ache in great pain.

The silence overflowed once more.

"I don't get it."

"What?"

"Why can't I cry? He was my father! My blood line; the one who was supposed to be there to kick the ass of the guy who tried to hurt me. The guy who helped create me!" Helga whined, her dull expression dying once more and helplessness overflowing. Yet, tears still refused to shed.

Arnold looked down at her sadly and let his arm slither over her shoulders. He brought her close to her and allowed Helga to place her head on top of his shoulders. Under normal conditions he would have probably been nervous and blushing, but right now all he could think of comforting one of his best friends. One of the toughest best friends he ever had. Helga was the one that was tough, the one that never broke down, the one that told people to suck it up. Yet there she was, beating herself up for not crying. It hurt him, seeing her like that. It hurt seeing such a strong person break down all her walls.

Neither of the two spoke, but noted that much time had passed. Helga still had her head on top of Arnold's shoulder and was still hugging her knees tightly. The night sky was creeping in and kicking the bright sky to die down. Arnold looked at the sky with a contemplative look on his face until he felt the arm around Helga's shoulder's move up and down. Curiously, he looked down to find Helga's face buried in her hands. He couldn't see anything, but he could hear a small sob escape her lips.

Arnold's grip around her shoulder's tightened as he brought her closer. The small sobs turned in to bigger, louder ones that made his heart break in to a million pieces. Helga's arms that were wrapped around her knees slithered around his stomach trying to bring him as close as possible. He knew what she was trying to do; he did the same with his grandmother when his grandfather passed away. He held her tightly- scared she would disappear as well.

The two teens held each other in a tight embrace, one crying, the other trying to be the strong one this time. "You're crying." Arnold told Helga as he slipped on hand to wipe the tears from her face. The blonde simply nodded against his chest, her sobs dying down slowly but surely.

"I'm crying." Helga let a small laugh escape her lips before placing her head back on Arnold's chest.


	2. I'll Be There

**Title: I'll Be There**

**Pairing: Mr. Simmons/Helga**

**Genre: Romance/Comfort**

**A/N: Because this pairing is by far one of my favorite, no matter how weird it is.**

**I've decided to make this in to a series of one shot's that surrounds all sorts of topics that make us human beings cry **

**All characters belong to Craig B.**

**-x o x-**

Helga sat down in a very uncomfortable chair. Her bottom ached from the fact that she had been sitting there for a good hour or so. Her heart was beating as fast as one of those incredibly fast cars in one of those races. She never was good at remembering "sports" that were completely and utterly useless. She could feel her teeth get shorter and number for she was gritting them none stop. Her nervousness was starting to reach its peak and she couldn't do anything about it.

Happy thoughts couldn't even change the way she was feeling.

The blonde tried to gulp her saliva, but it wouldn't go down. Thus a coughing fit came over her, giving her stares from people passing by. She didn't care; the fit gave her a chance to not think about her reason of ending up in the hospital- waiting to hear news about how _he's_ doing.

Her train of thought was broken as she heard the door to her left open. Quickly, she stood, ignoring the numbing feeling her bottom and lower back were experiencing. The nurse was a man in his mid thirties that looked like he hadn't slept in weeks. However, Helga could care less about his health, it was the patient she was interested in seeing more.

"Name?" the nurse asked her with a dull monotone.

"Helga G. Pataki." She replied with a glare while moving her hands anxiously.

"Age?" 

"Oh my G- Twenty three."

"How are you related to the Mr-" 

"I'm his girlfriend and emergency call- will you just hurry up and let me see him?" Helga asked him angry, his right hand turning in to a fist. The nurse simply snorted and showed her in to the room. The patient was asleep and doing well- as well as one could be after having a heart attack at least.

"His heart beat has turned normal and he should be waking up in a few minutes or so." The nurse pulled a chair out for her and did a few other things inside the room. Helga; however, had her eyes fixated on the sleeping body. She heard the nurse leaving muttering something or another about how a man in the bed could have a girlfriend like her. Once she heard the 'click' of the door, she brought her chair next to the bed and gabbed on to Robert Simmons's hand.

"Damn it Rob." Helga said to him angrily as tears threatened to go down.

It had happened just about a year ago, when she and Simmons had started dating. She was twenty two and he was forty four. A very big age difference, she had taken note of that, but that couldn't stop them from falling for each other. She had had him during her years in elementary school in which he was the cheery yet very paranoid teacher.

**-x o x-**

Helga only acknowledged him as her teacher back then and even throughout all of high school for her love for Arnold back then was so great that no matter how many men asked her out- she would let them down both softly and harshly just in case Arnold secretly felt the same for her too and if he saw her in the arms of someone else she had lost her chance forever.

A silly school girl thought that stayed with her until she went to college.

She had left to a liberal arts school up in New York to study for her dream of becoming a writer. The college life was wonderful and all, but not being able to see any of her friend really did a thing to her. However, winter break came quickly and all of a sudden there she was back at Hillwood with all of her friends together once more. Telling each other stories about their lives in college and embarrassing moments that made everyone cry laughing. It was all fun, but Helga had noted that two people were missing- Lila and Arnold. She had heard rumors about the two going to college together, but had desperately hoped it wasn't true.

Her hopes, like always, were crushed in an instant when she saw the two pop up with their fingers intertwined with each other. Helga didn't hear on how it happened or why they were suddenly together after she had rejected him so many times for she had up and left. She didn't know where she was walking, but her legs suddenly had their own mind and decided to take her away from the area. She didn't bother objecting. Next thing she knew she was sitting on a bench at the Hillwood park with her legs stretched out, her arms hanging loosely behind the bench, and dry tears smudged all over her cheeks.

She had sat there in the cold for a few good hours, two to be exact, crying over the fact that her hopes of Arnold realizing his love for her were up and crushed. She found it ridiculous to sit there for two hours crying over some _guy_she knew very well would never feel the same why. So why did she cry over him? She had guessed it was the fact that seeing it and finally seeing that it really never would be able to happen got to her.

With a heavy sigh, Helga lifted one of her hands and wiped a tear that suddenly escaped her eye. It was doing so that she saw something caught her attention; a man wearing a heavy coat and scarf that covered up to his nose. He wasn't far away or walking anywhere, but rather standing next to her a few feet away.

"Helga?" asked the covered man.

"What's it to you?" Helga replied bitterly as she allowed her two hands to rub her eyes so the tears would stop flowing.

"Helga it's me, Mr. Simmons." The blonde's head snapped up to find the covered man unwrap his scarf and indeed show the face of none other than Robert Simmons, she had learned his first name in sixth grade. Her ex-teacher allowed himself to sit next to her and give her a worried look. "Are you all right? It seems you've been crying." He said worriedly as he placed his hand on top of her shoulder.

"I-I'm fine." Helga replied as she shoved his hand off with a jerk of her shoulder. Her voice was beginning to crack which obviously gave him the hint that she was anything but fine.

An awkward silence filled the two.

"Did you see Arnold? Ii remember how close you were to him back then." Mr. Simmons piped up with a small laugh.

Helga simply scoffed at the statement. "Stupid football head; who cares if he's here with his _perfect_ little girlfriend that's good for nothing?" Simmons quickly turned to face her to tell her it was rude and unnecessary to speak about old classmates like that, but swallowed his words when he saw Helga crying. He had never seen her cry, so obviously this was something new to him.

Quickly his mind began to come up with all sorts of things to say, but nothing seemed right. So instead he picked up the scarf he had taken off and used it to awkwardly wipe the tears that wouldn't stop flowing. The two spent the rest of the night with Helga pressing her old teachers scarf against his eyes and Simmons with his arm wrapped his old student's shoulders in an attempt to comfort her.

**-x o x-**

"Nngh…"

Helga's train of thought was quickly put in to a halt as a sudden groan was emitted from beneath and next to her. Quickly, she looked down to find Robert stirring and lifting his free hand up to his forehead. Not bothering to open his eyes or even making sure of whom it was that was holding his hand; he tightened his grip on the hand that was holding his. It was a few moments later that he brought himself to letting his eyes open.

And there Helga was with eyes filled with worry. "I feel better now." The man said with a smile before Helga swiftly leaned in and planted her lips on his. The two stayed like that for a few moments longer before finally separating and basking in the fact that everything was going to be all right. "I'm sorry I did this to you." Simmons finally said; his face filled with regret. He was forty five, dating such a young woman, basically living the life that most men his age wanted and there he went getting a heart attack over stress.

His girlfriend laughed, which earned her a serious face. She didn't bother quieting; she simply spoke in between giggles. "Rob, you can have another heart attack and I'll be there by your side no matter how long it takes till you wake up. You can go on a five year trip all over the world and there I'll be when you get back with the car ready so we can go back home. You can do who knows what no matter how risky it will be in the end, but know for a fact that I definitely will be there waiting for you."

Robert Simmons looked at Helga to find that her giggles and turned in to soft sobs; her soft smile still clear on her face. "But please, _please_, don't leave me."

With much effort, Simmons forced his weak arms to bring any strength he had within him to shift himself up. Stretching his arms out, he pulled Helga towards him and held her tightly. He didn't bother holding back his tears; it was a crying fest in which emotions were out there in the open. He was man enough to cry with his girlfriend.

"I promise I won't ever leave you." He whispered in her ear with a small smile before placing his lips on top of her forehead.


End file.
